We rolled in to Frisco, Colorado that afternoon and our bodies were NOT happy about the intense altitude changes. After a quick stop at Starbucks for some warm drinks to help soothe our throats, we were in Breck within minutes!

As always, we stayed in a beautiful AirBnB with spectacular views of Downtown Breckenridge.  I could not have asked for a better place to stay! We were within walking distance of Main St. AND the bus stop that took us to the mountains, what else could we need in a ski town?

Thomas and I grabbed our ski gear the night before we hit the slops. I was SO excited to have ski boots in my favorite color! 

We really thought we were over packing with tons and tons of layers, but when we arrived on the mountain the first day, it was 0 degrees. I had 7 layers on the first day, and was still a little chilly! The first time Thomas took me Skiing for my “Birthday of a Lifetime” trip, it was in the 40’s and 50’s, so these temps were quite different!

By the afternoon on our first day, it had turned from bright and cheery to snowy and dark, which was A-Okay with me! I had certainly never seen such intense snowfall, and I was so in love with its beauty!

So many of the trees has giant ornaments on them! I was so enamored with the charm of this little city!

I’d be lying if I said I loved crepes, I really actually used to hate crepes, but before our arrival, Thomas found a little crepe place on Main St. that has amazing reviews! The only downside? There’s no indoor seating! Which means you can either sit outside in the -14 degree weather or take it while you walk. Regardless, these crepes were a game changer for me. I can now proudly say I am a crepe lover!

Our second day on the slopes was EVEN COLDER than the first. We were certainly not used to negative temps, but we embraced them with lots and lots of layers and facemarks and made the best of it!

As a fun change up from shredding it on the slopes, we decided to shred it up with snowmobiles one day!

I had never been on a snowmobile before, Texas doesn’t get much snow, duh, which made this experience so much more fun! We rode them alllllllllll the way up to the Continental Divide at Georgia Pass, where it was -33 degrees. If you didn’t know, iPhones don’t really work at those temps, so I was unable to get any pictures from the top!

From the time we got there until the time we left, we had almost TWO feet of snow! I had never seen so much snow in my entire life!

This was easily the best vacation Thomas and I have been on! We were able to experience so many new things and see SO much snow! I don’t think there is any present that he could have put under the tree that would have topped this trip! I’d rather have experiences over “stuff” any day!

Now for the real reason we drove instead of flying…. When Thomas and I first started dating, Thomas was going to school in a small town in Kansas, which meant once our first summer of dating was over, we would transition in to a long distance relationship…We took the picture on the left in August of 2012, after only dating for a few months, and having no idea what was to come in our relationship. After a stop at our favorite local market in this tiny town, we knew we just had to recreate the picture from our first trip!

This trip proved to be so much more than I could have ever imagined, but it certainly threw me off on Christmas shopping and everything else holiday related! Sometimes, it’s just best to go with the flow and not worry about everything else, and that’s exactly what my motto has been this holiday season!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is prepping for an awesome New Year!

The post Our Unconventional Christmas! appeared first on Tastebud Travels.

Now, I don’t know about you, but anytime the holidays roll around, I’m all about the sweets. I absolutely love love love shortbread cookies, and I love chocolate chip cookies, but I wanted something different. Who doesn’t love chocolate covered cherries? Ha! ME! I hate them actually, but I wanted to give these a try. Let me just tell you…. They are nothing like chocolate covered cherries, they are a million times better! These little cookies have the perfect structure to be stacked and wrapped for little Christmas goodies, or to be enjoyed all for yourself! 

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar 
• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup maraschino cherries, chopped 
• 4 Tsp granulated sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup white and/or dark chocolate chips 
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Cream the butter and the confectioners sugar
2. Mix the flour, salt, and 2 tsp sugar generously
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until it starts forming large clumps
4. Chop maraschino cherries, sprinkle with 2tsp granulated sugar
5. Mix in the maraschino cherries, chocolate chips and vanilla extract.
6. Form the dough into the shape that you want, wrap it in plastic or foil and set it to chill in the freezer for at least an hour, I usually let it sit over night.
7. Heat oven to 325F
8. Cut the log into 1/4 inch thick slices and place them on a baking sheet with one inch of space between them
9. Bake 20-25 minutes, until they just start to turn lightly golden brown on top
10. Let cool & enjoy!

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In no way whatsoever do I mean for anyone to shop in small quantities this Cyber Monday- what fun would that be? Seeing as how Black Friday and Small Business Saturday just passed, I thought it’d be fun keep the shopping small trend going. I have a few small style shops that I seriously love that are running some AWESOME Cyber Monday deals!

Courtney & Courtnie Bangles These ladies make some beautiful jewelry! They started with gorgeous bangles and expanded to rings and earrings recently! In their shop, you’ll find bangles of all different colors and stones, they even have some college themed pieces. Did I mention all of their product are hand made? That’s my kinda jewelry. I have my eye on their Rainbow Druzy Round Stud Earrings. They are running 30% off orders of $60 or more with code GIFTS30 AND 20% off all orders with code SHOPSMALL20

Love and Print This little shop ROCKS! They have some of the most adorable Christmas printable as well as super cute tops for the little tykes in your life. While their Christmas section is amazing, the rest of Love and Print’s products do not disappoint! They are running 20% off today with code CYBERYALL

Morph Speakers These are the coolest speakers I have ever seen! I recently found this brand on instagram and have seriously fallen in love with their rugged, hand made speakers. These are perfect for the man in your life, or to keep just about anywhere you need a little beat in your life! Morph is running 20% off all orders with code CyberWood

Texas Humor is every Texan’s favorite little shop. Between Thomas and I, we have over 2/3 of their products, and I love every single one of them. Not from Texas? Not a problem! They do have a few non-Texan items! I’m loving their new Merry Christmas Y’all Sweater!  They are running 25% off their entire shop with code SANTAYALL

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